[6] This is the Russian version of the myth of the Snow Maiden, which appears in the folk tales of all northern nations. Small at the beginning of the season, the child's rapid growth is emblematic of the rapid increase of the cold, and her sudden disappearance in the woods is typical of the melting of the last snows, which linger longest in the dense forests where the sunbeams cannot penetrate.
[7] Jumping through the fire is a vestige of heathenism.
[8] One of the Austro-Hungarian folk tales. Different versions of this story have been given, among others by Wratislaw, in his "Sixty Folk Tales from exclusively Slavonic Sources," and by Laboulaye in his well-known "Fairy Book."
[9] This is one of the Dutch Mediæval Legends. The only Stavoren now existing is a little fishing town on the northeast coast of the Zuyder Zee. This gulf was caused by "the terrific inundations of the thirteenth century," when thousands of people perished. It was only after this inundation took place that the city of Amsterdam arose on the southwest shore of the Zuyder Zee. The story, with the exception of the inundation, is purely mythical.
[10] The Baltic Sea, between Germany, Denmark, Scandinavia, and Russia.
[11] Dantzic, a city in West Prussia, on the Baltic coast.
[12] Many dikes are built in Holland to prevent the country from being submerged, as a great portion of it now lies beneath the level of the North Sea.
[13] This is a Russian fairy story. It is a favorite along the shores of the Baltic Sea.
[14] This is one of the Swedish folk tales; another well-known version of "Hans and Gretchen."
[15] This anecdote is adapted from a story in a French Reader, "Livre de Morale en Action," by Barrau.